Judge denies Trump request to dismiss ‘Apprentice’ contestant’s defamation case

A New York judge on Monday ruled against President Trump as the president’s attorneys seek to block an accuser in a defamation lawsuit from forcing Trump to give a deposition.

Court documents obtained by CNN revealed that New York state Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter denied a request from Trump’s attorneys to dismiss a complaint from Summer Zervos, a former “The Apprentice” contestant who claims that the president defamed her by lying about sexually assaulting her.

{mosads}Trump has denied any non-consensual sexual conduct with Zervos and a number of other women who have accused the president of crimes ranging from unwanted groping to rape.

Under a court deadline, the president must be deposed on the lawsuit by Dec. 6. Zervos’s attorney said last month that new documents in the case prove that Trump and Zervos were at the same hotel at the time of the alleged 2007 assault.

Phone records obtained by Zervos’s attorneys also show that Trump called the former contestant a day after the sexual assault was alleged to have taken place.

The case, brought last year, was moved forward by an appellate court in March of 2019 and remains the most successful legal action taken against the president by one of his accusers.

A spokesperson for the law firm of Marc Kasowitz, the president’s attorney, told The Hill in an email: “We are pleased that Justice Renwick of the First Department put the President’s motion for reargument or leave to appeal on an expedited schedule.”